Chicago neighborhood or suburb like Brooklyn? (Rockford, Berwyn: real estate, insurance, homes)

[treemoni]

Yes I must admit I didn't read the OP, but when I saw the responses I looked more closely.

So, new Brooklyn.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

Two income couples are uncommon here? Where do you come up with this stuff?

...that there is decrease in the likelihood of finding a household with two earners as one moves up the income scale. It is sort of simple is you think about -- once you get up over about $150k the hassles of having to try to find a partner with another job worth showing up to that also pays a decent amount of money are just too hard. On top of that folks are gonna want high quality day care, figure how to get kids to sports / activities and have some time to do family stuff. Really hard give the economic conditions that still has not seen fully recovery of employment, difficulties of commute, general trends with demographics..

Head into a nice spot in the city or suburbs and the odds of finding lots stay at home parents clad in work out gear all day vs seeing hordes of Burberry clad "Sloane Rangers" slogging to the office together has defiantly shifted...

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...that there is decrease in the likelihood of finding a household with two earners as one moves up the income scale. It is sort of simple is you think about -- once you get up over about $150k the hassles of having to try to find a partner with another job worth showing up to that also pays a decent amount of money are just too hard. On top of that folks are gonna want high quality day care, figure how to get kids to sports / activities and have some time to do family stuff. Really hard give the economic conditions that still has not seen fully recovery of employment, difficulties of commute, general trends with demographics..

Head into a nice spot in the city or suburbs and the odds of finding lots stay at home parents clad in work out gear all day vs seeing hordes of Burberry clad "Sloane Rangers" slogging to the office together has defiantly shifted...

Do you have good data suggesting this phenomenon is more common here in Chicagoland versus Brooklyn?

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by treemoni

You all are, of course, thinking about a different Brooklyn than I am. You guys' idea of Brooklyn is more "Brooklyn Heights".

...Which is just as much apart of Brooklyn as Brownsville....

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

Do you have good data suggesting this phenomenon is more common here in Chicagoland versus Brooklyn?

There is data on this that shows the relationship between where the rise in household income correlates with dual income until it reaches a plateau at a certain income level. In some places, like the most costly parts of London, that plateau is way up around the equivalent of US $300K. In SF, DC and NYC it is also significantly higher than here, someplace north of $200k. As I recall in the Chicago region it is closer to $150K. The correlation mostly has to do with the home affordability factor -- one gets a very nice spot in the Chicago region compared to pricier real estate markets... (there are some huge implications becuase of tax burden on such data too, but as I recall many low tax states, where folks really get a fabulous deal, also have the lowest numbers of dual income affleuent households with children, which suggest the low cost of living is the bigger lever...)

There are some other interesting correlations with things like number of children, average age when having first child, liklihood of using daycare and similar demographic trends. The links might have come from research I read on some of the real estate marketing sites I still frequent or it might have come from the Freakonomics blog which is a neat source of things like that.

As far as the OP is concerned I would be sure to factor in if the both partners are working in the same office in Itasca, as that is an even rarer occurrence. If one of them will have to head into the Loop daily vs headed to Itasca those are really difficult options. There is another recent thread from a family relocating with both parents working for a major accounting firm; in their case one of their roles will allow for more work-from-home days while the other will likely be racking up air miles. Itasca is relatively convenient to O'Hare so if that is a factor that will impact OP's work need to build that into the mix too...

[oakparkdude]

@Chet,

Hmm, that is interesting, and I don't doubt that given the lower cost of living, some couples choose to trade income for extra non-employed time. I'd be interested in seeing the raw data if you have a link.

[melissagrayce]

As the OP let me clarify my question... we are a 30-something duel income couple with a young child. We aren't self centered/congratulatory and I hope we don't take ourselves too seriously. I was looking for genuine feedback regards an area of Chicago or suburb to consider if the transfer goes ahead.

We've been lucky enough to live in two great cities and have only heard positive things about Chicago. The Itasca location has thrown me for two reasons 1) neither of us have ever lived in a suburb and 2) it's very likely my office will be 'in the Loop' as you say. Now there may be a chance I won't work if the finances allow but I enjoy my career and it would be a shame to give up because of geography. Hence my question about locations commutable to both locations.

We also like walking to local shops and restaurants, like older homes, and enjoy a good farmers market. Again not sure why this means we take ourselves too seriously.

Thanks again.

[reppin_the_847]

Do you know how far the Itasca office is from the Itasca Metra (train) station? If it is reasonably close, then you could consider living in the West Loop area close to Union Station. While the West Loop is not teeming with activity like Brooklyn, it's still urban and within short public transit times to other hotter parts of the city. You'd likely be able to walk to your downtown office from there as well.

Originally Posted by melissagrayce

As the OP let me clarify my question... we are a 30-something duel income couple with a young child. We aren't self centered/congratulatory and I hope we don't take ourselves too seriously. I was looking for genuine feedback regards an area of Chicago or suburb to consider if the transfer goes ahead.

We've been lucky enough to live in two great cities and have only heard positive things about Chicago. The Itasca location has thrown me for two reasons 1) neither of us have ever lived in a suburb and 2) it's very likely my office will be 'in the Loop' as you say. Now there may be a chance I won't work if the finances allow but I enjoy my career and it would be a shame to give up because of geography. Hence my question about locations commutable to both locations.

We also like walking to local shops and restaurants, like older homes, and enjoy a good farmers market. Again not sure why this means we take ourselves too seriously.

Thanks again.

[Ace Rothstein]

Commuting to the city from the suburbs is much easier than reverse commuting. You could easily live in a suburb and have a not too bad commute for both of you.

[i_am_hydrogen]

I can't speak to the commute to Itasca, but I'll toss Lincoln Park, my hood of 11 years, into the ring:
1) 3-4 miles from downtown
2) Very dense, older building stock with plenty of brick apartment buildings, rowhomes, and graystones.
2) Right on the lake, with easy access to the beach (North Avenue, Oak Street)
3) Close to Lincoln Park (the park proper), which hosts farmers markets and is home to Lincoln Park Zoo (admission is free), South Pond Nature Boardwalk, nature museum, Lincoln Park Conservatory, and other goodies.
4) Plenty of shopping, restaurants, and foot traffic.